Pause while sifting through the wreckage of baseball’s Biogenesis scandal and ponder a single word, overused and misunderstood but perfectly befitting disgraced superstar Alex Rodriguez: Tragedy.

Oft-used to describe fatal accidents or unfortunate events, the word’s actually defined as a “tale typically describing the downfall of a great man” — and so here we are, in the final act of an epic baseball tragedy, the self-destruction of a hero.

The performance-enhancing drugs linked to the now-infamous Florida clinic Biogenesis have left 15 players busted: Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera last year, former National MVP Ryan Braun last month and 13 more Monday, including Rodriguez.

In that pantheon of disgraced cheats, it’s A-Rod (A-Roid? A-Fraud?) who stands out. He was projected by some in the mid-1990s to become the greatest ballplayer ever and yet this is his likely legacy: 38 years old and set to appeal a ban of 211 games.